Geoff Brock & Bruce Gamble
         
     
 

In and around
Amsterdam
Today we were in Amsterdam. I have been desperate to visit this city ever since Colm went with my Daddy on a business trip together and came back with all those strange leather clothes. While Geoff and Bruce went off to see friends in Haarlem (I thought that was in New York), I explored on my own. There are a lot of bikes and a bear had to be careful not to get run over. I saw a bar with a sign above it – “The Bear Bar”. Now, that’s clearly my sort of place! But it did not open until 8 that evening. So I went back to the ship for dinner and told Geoff and Bruce not to wait up. They told me that they thought the Bear Bar was “not really your sort of place”. It’s a bar. There are bears. Why was it not my sort of place? So I went. Popped in. Had a look around. It really wasn’t my sort of place… I went back to the ship and sat in the bar. I needed a stiff drink or two.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sunday 4th May 2014
  
Looking out of the ship early on Sunday morning, we wondered where on earth we were. We were expecting to see the city of Amsterdam (which is familiar to both of us). Instead, it looked as if we had crossed the North Sea, sailed up the Thames and were docked somewhere in London's docklands!
Later, we found out that we were in Amsterdam's Suezhaven and below is the route we had taken to get there. (Ignore the arrows going in the wrong direction - Bruce tracked the ship when it left on its return journey to find out exactly how it had found its way there in the first place... oh well, he thought it was interesting).
After breakfast, we boarded our coaches for the drive into the city centre. We were dropped off close to Central Station.
True to form, we thanked our guide for her services and went off by ourselves once again.
We did, however, pause for long enough to see our fellow passengers boarding their specially chartered boat and sailing off for the start of their canal tour.

We spent the next few hours stolling around the city.

The Royal Palace...
...on Dam Square.

Reguliersbreestraat
Mixed styles of the Tuschinski Theatre (cinema)

Reguliersbreestraat
The Munttoren ("Coin Tower")
A view across the Amstel
 
The Zuiderkerk
 
 
Hotel de l'Europe
 
The Munttoren ("Coin Tower")
      
   
De Krijtberg - a Roman Catholic church located at the Singel
We didn't actually visit the museum, but we did go to the cafe!
Geoff vaguely remembered going to Begijnhof many years ago. He was very pleased to rediscover it!
 
 
 
It is such a peaceful place in the midst of the busy city.
The English Reformed Church at Begijnhof.
It was Sunday and a service was in progress, so we couldn't go inside.
 
We exited Begijnhof via this unlikely looking door!
 
Hotel Di-Ann
 
 
 
We had some time to kill so we meandered slowly in the direction of Central Station. The city was very slowly coming to life this Sunday morning.
 

 

 

 
 
 
In the afternoon, we had plans to meet Peter, a long-standing friend of Geoff's, in Haarlem. We decided to take the train there a little bit earlier than initially planned and take a look around the town.
Haarlem

We had only just started to explore Haarlem when Peter rang to say that he was ready to meet us so we went back to the station. All we knew at that stage was that we would be going to meet his parents (who are also known to Geoff), but Peter told us that they would be resting so he suggested taking us for a ride in the car. Well, we didn't just get a ride, we got a complete tour. We were trying to keep track of all the places we visited and I think this map is a reasonable approximation of our route, which covered more than 70 miles!
Starting from Haarlem, our first stop was at Spaarndam.
 
We took the car ferry across the North Sea Canal
 
 
 
 
We were then taken to Zaanse Schans which was lovely.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Geoff and his good friend, Peter
Bruce, in the meantime, was getting into the speciality chocolate!
 
 
Hmmm, not sure what I'm going to make of this...
... oh, I just love it... it really tickles me!
 
 
 
Hump-backed bridges known as 'kippenbruggen' and flat bridges known as 'kwakels" span drainage channels and canals, giving access to the land beyond. On the other side of the canal lies the 'over-garden', elegant gardens often designed in the French style belonging to the wealthy merchants wishing to protect the view from their house.
Leaving Zaanse Schans, we resumed our road tour.
Peter wanted to head towards the village of Jisp and Bruce took some more pictures as we drove.
 
 
Jisp is a pretty village, but we didn't stop.
We then drove back on the motorway to see Peter's parents in Heemstede. The only visual clue I got as to the route we took was when we passed the Cruquius pumping station museum near Hoofddorp.
After a very pleasant visit to Peter's parents, who were so pleased to see Geoff again after many years, Peter drove us back to the ship. Luckily, we were able to use Bruce's phone to guide us right to the ship at Suezhaven! Time for our last evening meal with Anne and John.
 
 
©Geoff Brock and Bruce Gamble